Membership of the Nomination Committee

Kathryn Stone OBE was Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards a post she held from January 2018 to December 2022. Before that she held the post of Chief Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales.  She has also been a Commissioner with the Independent Police Complaints Commission and at Commission for Victims and Survivors Northern Ireland.

She is a Chartered Director, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and was formerly a Registered Social Worker.  She was made OBE in 2007 and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Derby in 2018.

Andrew Mitchell KC was called to the Bar in 1992 and took silk in 2011. He specialises in commercial and civil litigation and arbitration. His practice is predominantly in the fields of banking, financial services, professional negligence, professional and financial regulation, and (re)insurance law, with a significant international element. He is a member of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR), and also an accredited Mediator. He is a member of Fountain Court Chambers, and was formerly an experienced member of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Standards Board, on which he sat from 2010.  He sits as a Deputy High Court Judge.

Alison Allden OBE joined the Bar Standards Board as a Lay Member on 1 January 2017. Alison has a professional background in higher education, IT, culture and archaeology. She retired from the post of Chief Executive at The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2015. Previous senior posts include Deputy Registrar and Director of IS as a member of Bristol University's senior executive team and Director of IT at Warwick University.

Having retired in 2015, Alison maintains a portfolio of non-executive roles including being on the Boards Regent's University London Study Group UK and is an external member on the Cambridge University Information Services Committee.  She is also currently a Senior Advisor with Wells Advisory UK, a higher education consultancy and undertakes governance reviews with AdvanceHE.

She is a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), a member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (MIFA) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (MCILIP).

Alison was awarded an OBE for Services to Higher Education in the 2016 New Year Honours. 

Emir is a Chartered Accountant and a specialist in transformational change. The majority of his career was spent at the Sunday Times as Associate Managing Editor for this leading Sunday Paper.

He is a Commissioner for the Judicial Appointments Commission, which selects candidates for judicial office in Courts and tribunals. He is at present also a Board member and Audit Chair of the Serious Fraud Office, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency, The Pension Ombudsman, the Honours Committee, and is a trustee of The Henry Smith Charity, one of the largest grant makers in the UK. He is involved in a number of initiatives in the diversity and inclusion arena.

He has held non executive board member positions with Lambeth Clinical Commission group, London Metropolitan University, and the Bar Tribunal Adjudication Service, amongst others.

Steven Haines joined the Bar Standards Board as a Lay Member on 1 January 2017. Steven is currently a Director of Effingham Golf Club Ltd and a professional services company Parkwood Partners Ltd.

Prior to this he a CEO of two new enterprise start-ups (Broadway and Light Speed) in the Telecoms Industry. Prior to this he was Managing Director in BT Group Previous roles include Managing Director in the new independent Openreach Executive, Managing Director for BT Group (Mobile), where he was responsible for transformation into a mobile business, and Chief Operating Officer/Managing Director BT Wholesale.

Steve is a highly accomplished senior executive and NED with over 30 years’ experience operating at board level in complex and challenging competitive markets and regulated organisations. A strategic thinker who demonstrates passion, collaboration, and drive to deliver outstanding business growth. His inclusive and empathetic leadership style creates a culture of achievement through unity, trust, transparency, and personal integrity.

Leslie Thomas KC was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2014. A human rights practitioner, Leslie specialises in claims against the police, public authorities and corporate bodies. He is also a specialist in inquests and public inquiries. He is currently an independent member on the Standards Committee for public life for Lewisham Council. He is on the Council executive for the organisation JUSTICE. In 2016, Leslie won the Legal Aid Lawyers' (LALY) Award for work on the Hillsborough case and in 2017, he won the UK Legal Diversity Lifetime achievement award. In June 2020 he was appointed Gresham Professor of Law. He is a Visiting Professor at Goldsmith, University of London.  Leslie is also an attorney in Antigua and Barbuda with a Caribbean practice - JC Legal Solutions.